THE ONLY WAY TO GO | FIN

(OOC: Fin, why don't you have a house? xD)



The pressure was too much by the time Melanie finally made her way out of the House of Hades. Zane was dead. Alex was alive. Tavie was back. The island had been attacked. She had been injured. All of her thoughts were coming out in fragments now, though for a few days she had managed to hold on to her sanity. As of this moment, she had very little of that left to go around, and that was before the skies opened up and began to pour. Great, now she was wandering around the island, dazed and slightly confused...and very wet. Before she even realized that she had a destination, Melanie found herself outside of a door she had only entered a few times during her stay on the island.

She had no idea what had brought her to Fin's place, but here she was, shivering on his doorstep and looking for someone who might understand the chaos in her head and her heart. He had been Zane's best friend, after all. Lingering in the doorway for a moment, she attempted to catch her breath. Had she really been crying? Surely she hadn't been when she left the house. She was supposed to be stronger than this. They all were. Zane would be beyond disappointed if he could see her now.

When she finally found the strength to move her arms, Melanie knocked on the door, calling out through chattering teeth. "Fin? Are you home?" When no response came, she knocked again, this time with a little more force. "Fin...it's Mel." Please, please be home. There was no where else for her to go, not right now.

TAG: @finley

(because I'm homeless XD)

Fin heard a knock on his door, but didn't move.

He heard a voice, a girls, but he didn't move.

Then she announced herself. It was Mel.

He sighed, rubbing his temple with one hand for a moment. He couldn't leave Mel out there, no matter how terrible he was feeling. His heart was in his throat, he had a bottle of something in his hand, who knows what, and he had been sitting on this chair for hours, maybe even days.

He finally stood and moved to the door, opening it to find a shivering girl with red eyes and cheeks. "Mel," he muttered, stepping aside and gesturing for her to enter.

"Fin." She greeted in a small voice that didn't sound like her own. Walking in to his place, Melanie paused near the doorway. What did she do now that she was here? She didn't have a plan, and by the looks of things Fin was in a worse state than she was. With a deep sigh, she turned to face him, lifting her head as she did so. The room reeked of the alcohol in his hand, and Melanie was almost certain that this wasn't his first bottle. Probably not even his second. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come here, it's just where I ended up." How she had subconsciously remembered where he lived was beyond her comprehension. She had only been there once or twice before, and he had been with her both times. It's not like she frequented his home.

It was strange, seeing Mel acting this way. She could oftentimes be just as shy and standoffish as he was, but she never seemed... weak. Fin liked to think he didn't either. But now here they both were, practically skeletons of themselves standing in his apartment looking foolish. He shut the door as she stepped in, but didn't move away form it. Neither did she.

"That's fine," he answered, finally stepping away from her to make his way back to the chair he had been sitting in for hours. He sat down, placing the bottle on the table beside him but not taking another sip. "Please, sit." the couch was empty, and his voice was monotone.

Taking off her jacket, Melanie winced slightly as the movement pulled at the wounds in her arm and side. Oh well, it wasn't like the tank top from her field uniform was going to hide one of the bandages anyways. It might have been a good day to wear the standard issue one, but hindsight was always 20-20. Besides, she didn't want the rain from it to get on Fin's furniture, so the stupid thing had to come off.

Finally settling down on the indicated couch, Melanie looked Fin over. He looked almost as bad as she felt, which was saying something. Still, she needed to ask him, if anything to start a conversation. Otherwise she needed to leave. "How are you holding up? I haven't seen you since the rock wall." Technically it had only been a couple of weeks, but so much had changed since then that she could barely wrap her head around it.

He waited for her to speak first, as he was sure she would. When she did, he didn't look up at her. He didn't move for a moment, until finally giving a slight shake of his head. "I don't want to be here anymore, Mel. I don't want to be here," he repeated, looking over at the bottle on the small table beside him, but not picking it up. As much as he wanted to numb himself, he didn't like Mel seeing him this way. He didn't like anyone seeing him this way.

Still, he could help that his eyes started to fill with tears and his hands balled into fists, shaking. "I can't be here like this. I want to go back," he said, his voice building in volume now.

Standing up, Melanie crossed the distance between herself and Fin to kneel down in front of him. His words didn't quite snap her out of her stupor, but it did give her something to focus on. From the sound of it they were at least on the same page. "Go back where, Fin? Back home, back to camp?" Either would have made sense to her. Going back to a time before Egyptians and Titans, not even knowing Zane...it hurt to think about that part. In Fin's case, Zane would be alive and well though. Placing a hand on his knee, Melanie looked up at Fin with concern, wondering if she should call someone.

Fin didn't respond at first to Mel kneeling in front of him. He didn't even look at her. As she questioned where he wanted to go, she was half right. He didn't answer for a brief second until her hand was upon his knee. He looked down at it, then up at her face. He nodded once, "back to when he was-" his voice cracked, "back to when we were safe and things were organized. Things were... But then you-" he stopped at what going back in time implied. Never working with the Greeks, hating them even. He shook his head...

"Then I wouldn't have known him, or you. No meetings, no sparring, no rock wall climbing. We all would've hated each other out of principal, but he would be alive and we wouldn't be here." Melanie's voice began to waver as she finished Finley's thought. Her hand fell down towards her lap as she suddenly began to feel the toll of the emotional strain she had been under. Part of her wanted to stand back up, move over to the couch, but her arms and legs seemed to be rebelling against her as she looked up at Finley. Here was her brothers best friend, and she couldn't do anything to help him. No one could, other than Zane. "I'd give all of that up if it being him back, even just for a minute. You know he'd slap us both for thinking like this though, right?" That was all it took, thinking about what he would do again, to make the tears fall. So many things Zane should be there for, but he wasn't.

"Exactly," Fin muttered as Mel finished his sentence. Her voice was wavering, he could hear it, but he still didn't go to her. He kept his eyes anywhere but on her now. He felt a wave of disappointment as her hand left his knee, though, and he almost moved. But didn't. Not yet.

He could feel her looking at him as she continued on. Finley finally snapped his gaze to her when she said Zane would slap them for thinking these things. Then she started to cry and he finally broke. He bent down, putting a hand on her shoulder, "you're right. He'd tell us that were were being cruel to one another. That Concordia is really better for us then both camps," he said, tightening his grip on her shoulder slightly and letting his own tears fall.

"Then he needs to come back and tell us." Melanie sobbed, her head lowering as she tried to hide her tears. She was supposed to be stronger than this. How long had she maintained that untouchable facade, only to have it brought down right when she needed it most? "Alex came back, so can Zane. He has to, father could..." Her words ran together and started to become incoherent. No, father wouldn't do that. Alex had intervention from Zeus, but who would save Zane? Unless the gods found a use for him, he was gone forever.